unclefester wrote:The wall is not single brick thickness, it's triple thickness bricks and has a good foundation so it *might* be ok but as you say, once the support from the trees is removed and the roots start to die off, who knows.

Fairly sure the wall is a brick 'n a half - 13-1/2", can't see it's at any great risk from the felling process.

I'll update once i get this sorted and drop some pictures of the finished results - thanks for talking it through with me, difficult to be objective when it's your neighbours and I DO want to be reasonable about this with them, more so because of the lack of any relationship.

unclefester wrote:I'll update once i get this sorted and drop some pictures of the finished results - thanks for talking it through with me, difficult to be objective when it's your neighbours and I DO want to be reasonable about this with them, more so because of the lack of any relationship.

One thing I might do if felling those trees is lift any coping stones that are really loose and lay them on the ground against the wall - they'll be safe there.

Light in the side of the house after 3pm that it hasn't had in 20 years, the rooms are warmer, the bricks get some heat into them, no more bird censored .... no brown crap dropping all over the drive ... sadly we can see the neighbours but you can't have everything

So i would advise anyone, even if you have really awful neighbours ..... if you want things done, even if you do pay for it, get on and get it done if you can reach that agreement, it's only money and it's worth spending. Do not line the councils coffers via their high hedge laws and enter a 3 year + wait for nothing to happen whilst the problem gets worse.

unclefester wrote:Do not line the councils coffers via their high hedge laws and enter a 3 year + wait for nothing to happen whilst the problem gets worse.

You think high hedge cases line the council coffers?

High Hedge cases are dreadful. We investigate one a year and successfully beat away a dozen more without taking any money. In the vast majority of cases complainers won't try to resolve the dispute like adults but will escalate it into some pathetic tit for tat playground power struggle. Inevitably, the first thing a person will say is "my neighbour is very difficult to talk to" and expect the council to immediately intervene.

I'm glad your case has been resolved amicably without council involvement but fees set for high hedge cases are proportionate to the amount of time and bother taken in administering them, including the appeal that generally follows.

unclefester wrote:Do not line the councils coffers via their high hedge laws and enter a 3 year + wait for nothing to happen whilst the problem gets worse.

. The fees Councils charge by and large doesn't cover the cost of the initial complaint, never mind the appeal. Also, Councils undertake so few high hedge complaints, one or two a year at most, if they wanted to line their coffers they'd have to charge an awful lot. But on the plus side, the cost borne by the Council Tax payer to fund the shortfall in the fee isn't great either.

The high hedge lawas are not the Councils laws. They are Parliaments laws imposed on the Councils who are expected to implement them. Laws which came about due to a lot of lobbying by groups such as Hedgeline.

High hecdge complaints don't take three years + to undertake as you suggest yours did. You never submitted a high hedge complaint. You negotiated with yoiur neighbour for three years +. Then when you threatened to take a formal complaint to the Council the neighbours actually did something to resolve the problems you were expreriancing. Maybe you should have threatened the neighbour with a formal complaint sooner.

The simple fact remains that the money you pay to the council is non refundable irrespective of outcome and a positive outcome / or a prompt decision is far from guaranteed. So again, for anyone else reading this who has a similar issue, do your level best to communicate with your neighbours and view the high hedge law as a completely last resort where ALL other methods have failed.

The fact that councils undertake one or two cases a year does question the use of the law or their acceptance of a viable case, where did you get those figures from? Our council were not so forthcoming with that degree of detail when we asked.

Benefits for us since these came down;

1. No more bird censored all over the cars paintwork2. No more brown rubbish on the drive 3. No more thick moss growing on the drive or the path4. Windows and window frames have remained clean and clear5. Light in the lounge and side offices right through til sunset6. Shrubs and wall plants growing properly due to the increase in light7. That end of the house is less cold for less time due to the heating effect on the brickwork over the course of the day

I'm not a council employee, i'm not a lawyer, i'm not a trained negotiator but i am smart enough to know when my £500 has been well spent. The fact that this process has thawed a relationship that has not been great since long before we moved in is a welcome side benefit.

The numbers would be available via FOI. I'm the person who investigates such cases. I'm upfront about the fact that we will take their money with no guarantee of success, that they would be better off spending the money on something more productive and that I rarely hear from people once I've reminded them that we are the last resort.